Phil. Red Cross Agusan Norte-Butuan City Chapter reports status of its operations

By Jennifer P. Gaitano

BUTUAN CITY, Aug. 16 (PIA) – The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Agusan del Norte-Butuan City Chapter bared the status of its monthly operations, during its meeting held on Thursday at the Balanghai Hotel, this city.

The Disaster Management Services Committee chaired by city councilor Dr. Virgilio Nery Jr. under the PRC reported that in the month of July, the committee has conducted three classes on Basic Disaster Management and 143 Mobilization Training Course producing 177 graduates from the Department of Agriculture (DA) Caraga and Barangay Talisay, Nasipit, Agusan del Norte.

Blood Services Committee chaired by Dir. Leodegaria Yu-Go, bared that there were 23 bloodletting activities conducted in July in coordination with the barangay officials of different local government units in the province and other partner sectors.

It was also learned that the committee were able to collect 884 units of blood including those acquired from bloodletting activities.

With this collected blood units, there is 497 total number of patients served from the various health facilities/hospitals in the province.

PRC Agusan del Norte-Butuan City Chapter Administrator Teodoro Cairo, clarified that the blood deposited by donors in the blood center at the PRC are not for sale. "We don't sell the blood. Anyone who would need blood from the Red Cross will only pay for the processing fee for blood to be tested," he said.

For the Safety Services Committee report chaired by Dir. Rogelio Yu, the following was conducted: seven classes on Standard and Tailored First Aid Training Course were conducted producing 183 graduates from the different institutions of the province; three classes on Basic Life Support Healthcare Providers and Adult Lay Rescuers Training Course 47 graduates; three classes on Basic Water Safety Training Course and Swimming Lesson producing 70 graduates; and five sessions on First Aid Lecture Demonstrations attended by a total of 432 participants from different sectors.

For the Community Health and Nursing Services Committee chaired by Dir. Renato Jose Villanueva, the following trainings were conducted: Training on HIV Prevention for Community health Volunteers with 26 newly trained HIV and AIDS Awareness Advocates from the Red Cross Health Volunteers who participated; and Facilitators Training for Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation for Mindanao region held at Davao City.

Also, two batches of training on Youth Volunteer Orientation Course, Leadership Formation Course, Basic Leadership training were conducted for School of the Morning Star Junior Red Cross Youth (JRCY) Council, Red Cross Youth Development Center producing 26 trained JRCY members.

With this development, the PRC Agusan del Norte-Butuan City chapter is continuously encouraging individuals to support the Red Cross in its activities and be a blood donor as well.(JPG/PIA-Caraga)